Chameleon whirligig



'7 (No Model.)

' R. I. DONOVAN. GHAMELEON WHIRLIGIG.

m m 6 w W M P m w m STATES ROBERT F. DONOVAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CHAIVIELE ON WHIRLIGIG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,879, dated June 2, 1896.

. Application filed March 20, 1896- Serial No. 584,099. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT F. DONOVAN,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chameleon lVhirligigs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

Myinvention relates to whirligigs, and more particularly to that class known as chameleon whirligigs, in which the colors or tints change to various shades during the rotation of the device; and my invention has for its object to provide a simple and effective arrangement of the disks or semidisks whereby the Whirligig will be at all times accurately balanced and the colors or shades will vary wit-h any variation in the speed of rotation or in the direction of rotation.

\Vith these ends in View my invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangementof parts by which the said object and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is an edge view of my improved whirligig. Fig. 2 is a tran sverse sectional view thereof, taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an axial section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, the cords being omitted.

In carrying out my invention I employ a hub 1, constructed of any suitable material and having each of its ends perforated so as to form two cross-passages 2, through each of which a cord 3 is passed, so as to form four cords extending from each end of the hub, as indicated in Fig. 1, and by means of which the Whirligig may be rotated by twisting the cords in the well-known manner. This hub 1 is preferably constructed of two parts, as shown in Fig. 3, which are joined together by a dowel or core 4, which passes through axial perforations in the sections of the hub 1 and is glued or otherwise secured therein so as to secure the sections of the hub at a slight distance apart. J ournaled loosely upon the dowel 4, between the sections of the hub 1, is

' gyrating movement.

a circular disk 5, and arranged on each side of this disk 5 is a segment or sector 6.. The sectors 6 are secured rigidly, respectively, to the sections 1 of the hub, and they are arranged diametrically opposite each otherthat is to say, on diametrically opposite sides of the disk 5-whereby they will accurately balance the Whirligig and make the center of the centrifugal force'thereof coincident with the center of the hub, and hence avoid all The sectors 6 may be provided with hub-like portions 7, through which the dowel 4 passes and which are glued or otherwise secured, respectively, to the hubsections 1.

The purpose of extending the dowel I entirely through the hub-sections 1, as shown in Fig. 3, is to guide the manufacturer in put ting the parts together and avoid squeezing the hub-sections so tightly against the central disk 5 as to prevent its free rotation independently of the sectors 6.

The surface of the disk 5 is tinted in different colors, which are divided from one another on lines extending radially of the disk 5, preferably on the diameters of the disk, as indicated at S, Fig. 2, or otherwise arranged in a line transverse to the line of rotation, so that one color or tint will blend with or run into the other when the disk rotates, and the sectors 6, each of which preferably constitutes one-half of a circular disk, are tinted with a different color or shade from the colors or shades on the disk 5, so that the rotation of the sectors 6 over the colors on the disk 5 will blend with the latter and alter or vary the tints produced thereby. The colors of course may be different on opposite sides of the device, so as to aiford a wider range of variation in the tints produced.

The two sectors or semidisks 6, being arranged diametrically opposite each other and being rigidly secured to the hub, accurately balance the Whirligig and keep up a uniform rotation, which is imparted, more or less, to the disk 5, depending upon the degree of friction between the dowel or pin 4E and such disk 5, or between the adjacent faces of the semidisks 6 and the disk 5, and hence the variation in color is dependent upon the relative speeds of rotation of the fixed or loose portions.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. AWhirligig having in combination a hub provided With means of rotation, a circular disk sleeved loosely upon said hub, and sectors secured rigidly to said hub and on diametrically opposite sides thereof, so as to balance the Whirligig, substantially as set forth.

2. A Whirligig having in combination a hub provided with means for rotating it, a complete circular disk sleeved loosely upon said hub and having patches of different colors extending radially thereon, and sectors partly covering opposite faces of said disk and being rigidly secured to said hub on diametrically opposite sides thereof, substantially as set forth.

3. A Whirligig having in combination the hub-sections 1 provided with axial and transverse perforations, cords extending through said transverse perforations, a dowel passing through said axial perforations and securing said hub-sections together at a slight distance apart, a circular disk sleeved loosely on said dowel between said hub-sections, semidisks secured rigidly to said hub-sections and partly covering opposite faces of said circular disk and being arranged diametrically opposite each other, substantially as set forth.

ROBERT F. DONOVAN. lVitnesses EDNA 13. JoHNsoN, J NO. G. ELLIOTT. 

